Zombieland 2: Shadow of Liberty
by FoamBanana
Summary: Following the incident at Shadow Island four years ago, Sakura and the gang have to race against the clock to help their friend. But there is something in the shadows. And as we all have to find out sooner or later, not everything that moves in the shadows anymore - is dead. The long awaited sequel to Zombieland! Rating may change. SasuSaku, NaruHina, SaIno. R&R
1. Chapter 1: I see fire

I was born in the early hours of a spring morning. While the dew still hung loosely on the grass, I had been brought into this world. A world so messed up and ripping at the seams. Not that I'm complaining, I quietly muttered to myself while trying my best to keep the cold at bay.

This winter was probably one of the coldest winters I had ever lived through, and I had lived through a lot. Four years had passed since the incident at Shadow Island. Now, I was an adult. I had long since lost my childish features, and prospered in my new found strength. Though I never lost my childishness.

It was a cold morning, but a bright one. The sun shined brightly onto our faces. I wish I could say we were all smiling, but that would be a lie. The night had been cold and had brought sad news.

The cold had taken ahold of him out of nowhere. He had been walking around, fine as usual, making stupid jokes and smiling about everything and nothing at all. But I knew there was something amiss when one morning he shined with his absence. I had gone to him that morning, but all I had gotten in response was a rattled cough. True, we all felt under the weather sometimes, but there was something different this time. An eerie feeling that this was more than a common cold.

Sadly, I was proven right. He had not moved from his bed in almost four days. His fever growing higher each morning. I always made sure to check up on him, make sure that he hadn't died in his sleep. While it sounds grim, it was far from possible. We all knew it, but were afraid to say it.

If he didn't get better soon, he was going to die.

Hinata stayed with him, watching over him most days. But everyone has to sleep eventually. So when she wasn't there, Ino had watch over him.

" _Naruto, please hold on"_

Those of us who had decided it was too depressing just to sit back and watch him die had gone out on an expedition, trying to find some more medicine. The ones we had were running dangerously low or wouldn't help him at all.

That was two days ago.

Now we were treading through the snow, heading through the streets of Great Lake City. Trying to raid places we had already raided, in hopes that we would find something new. It was stupid, we knew.

But he was our friend, and damn us if we didn't at least try.

We were just a two days trip from our camp, but it felt like we were a thousand miles away. It felt as if though we had been walking for days, when in actuality we'd only been at it for a couple of hours.

There was total silence between the three of us. Only the sounds of our heavy breathing could be heard. But something's always got to give.

"Saki, let's take a break. We're of no use if we die out here." Silently I agreed with Sasuke. It was time for a break.

"Alright. But just for a minute or so. We need to find something soon." The words " _or else he might not make it…";_ hung heavy in the air.

I tugged my bag off my shoulders and unzipped. This wasn't good. I was running low on both water and food. The little that remained would be enough for now, though.

We decided to sit down after all. The snow was deep, but in some places it was shallow enough to sit in without being buried in a mountain of white.

I shook the last few drops of water out of my canteen before putting it down for the time being. I could probably gather some snow to cook once we'd set up a camp for the night. I could survive that long.

"Maybe we should try heading out of town? Remember that old house, Ugly? Where you were bitten?" I slowly nodded. Uncle Orville old house was just five hours walk from our current camp.

We had stayed at Clint's old house after all. It had been relatively safe, and cozy enough for us to want to stick around a little longer. We had decided that the best course of action was to settle down for the time being.

After the incident at Shadow Island, after Kakashi's death, we really needed the peace and serenity. Having somewhere to call home. And somewhere we knew our surroundings.

"We've already checked there at least six times. There's nothing there of use." It was true. We had checked every house in a five mile radius, looking for gear and necessities. Sai kicked off some snow from his boots.

"Yeah, but we've already scoured this area too. We've checked everywhere you guys. There's nothing left worth taking. I know you probably don't want to hear this, but maybe it's time to move on. Find somewhere else to settle. Or, we stick to the road. Either way, this place has given us all that it could." This was not the first time discussing the issue. All the other times however, Naruto had been the one arguing for us to stay. Now, we were alone.

"You're probably right, but in his current condition I don't think Naruto would be able to move much at all. Let alone walk until we find a better place. Who knows how long that is going to take. Right now it's best to stick to the course. Let's go find what we came here for and then we can decide what to do when he gets better." I knew there was something he wanted to say. Sai had never been one for keeping his mouth shut in situations like these.

"What if he doesn't get better though? What if we die because we were too stubborn to realize when enough was enough? What if…" Sasuke rose fast, his finger pointing solely at Sai.

"Don't even start with that shit. If there's one person that could survive this, it's him. Naruto doesn't give up. Not ever. No matter how dire the situation, he's always fought through it. So I don't want to hear that shit come out of your mouth again, you hear me?" It grew quiet. Only the wind dancing across the blanket of snow could be heard. The snow had really changed the entire landscape. What once was vibrant and green, had now become idle and dull.

After a long silence, Sasuke started packing his things. Muttering under his breath, and cursing at God for making his life a living hell and whatnot. Before long we were on the move again, walking tensely and awaiting an attack from the dead roaming around in the deep white snow.

 **OoOoOoOoO**

"What about the pharmacy? I'm sure that there has to be at least one bottle still laying around." The fire was crackling and throwing shadows across his face. The sun had sunk sooner than expected, which had made us unable to keep going. We had set up a simple camp in a shed we had visited before many times. It was our sanctuary outside our actual sanctuary.

The wind blew hard against the windows, and we were all on edge. Each time a hard thump could be heard we flinched and reached for our firearms. Sai kept poking the fire with a stick, while Sasuke paced around the room nervously.

"We've already checked there last month, remember? We sweeped it so carefully I'd be surprised if there is still dust left. Maybe we should check the supermarket again? There might be something there that could at least ease the pain in his joints?" Around the time he felt sick he had complained about a terrible pain in his bones. He had blamed it on working out too hard, but it had only gotten worse when the fever started raging.

"We were there yesterday, there was nothing left there either. Same goes for all the other grocery stores. We could start checking each individual house again. Maybe somebody's been through here recently and left something behind? Something they didn't think was valuable enough to take with them." Sasuke banged his fist against the brick wall. Not hard enough to break something, but still hard enough for both Sai and I to jump high.

"Dammit, you two! We can't keep going on maybe's and what if's. We need something and we need it fast. Everything has been cleaned out!" An idea came popping into my head around the same time the words fell off his lips.

"Not everything" They turned their heads towards me. There was silence for a while before I spoke up "There's still a place we haven't been able to get to. The risk is high, but so is the reward. If we could just…"

"No… No, there is a reason we've left the place untouched! It's too damn dangerous. It's better to come back empty handed and having tried than to not come back at all! It's out of the question, end of discussion!" Sai looked at the both of us with a curious look.

"What are you guys talking about? What place?" Sasuke shook his head. His mouth opened and closed several times before I finally took matters into my own hands and spoke up.

"A while back, Sasuke and I talked about… well… having kids I suppose," Sai wriggled uncomfortably "We were talking about what kind of complications would arise, should we decide to go for it. About all kinds of stuff really…" The man went pale and started waving his hands in front of his face. Then he turned a very bright shade of pink.

"Slow down, what does any of this have to do with our current situation? And when did you decide to start having kids?" It was no secret to anyone that Sasuke and I had started being intimate shortly after we got over the initial shock of Kakashi's passing. I had no longer been a minor and so it all kind of just happened on a whim. While I won't go into detail it all happened with great frequency. And so one afternoon we had both gotten quite the pregnancy scare when I realized that I was a couple of days late. While I didn't actually wind up pregnant it lay ground for a very awkward initial conversation about whether it was worth it or not.

"We haven't decided anything, it was just a discussion. But that's not the point!" Sasuke started pacing again, more restlessly than before "Don't you see what all of that lead to?" Sai donned a disgusted facial expression and muttered that he would rather not go into details. I found him amusing sometimes, even though he could be a pain in the ass.

"That's not it either. Don't you see what that sums up? A safe place to have a baby? Should complications arise?" He nodded, just having realized.

"A hospital." We both nodded in unison "Contrary to popular belief, hospitals aren't actually such a great place to have a child. There's too much bacteria and too many people. It would be a lot safer to have it in a stable, like that whole Jesus myth." Now it was Sasuke's time to wave his hands, but this time in frustration.

"First of all, how dare you? Jesus myth? It's not a myth. Second of all, yes. There are too many people. Except they're not people anymore. They're dead fuckers, walking around and making it sooooo much harder getting anything out of that place without attracting a Dawn of the freaking dead harem. There is no way. Not happening!"

There wasn't a long silence following Sasuke's outburst, but it was long enough for us to make us more than a little bit uncomfortable. But he was right. We had always come to this conclusion. It was not worth the risk. But this time we were at an impasse.

Let our friend die - or go get some medicine.

"Look, I'm all for a little bit of risking it, but not this time. The stakes are too high. This should be a group decision. We should head back to base camp and talk to everyone. Also, we should see what Naruto thinks about it as well. It's not just us risking our lives here. We are compromising their lives as well. With the amount of chores around the camp, they'd have a hard time surviving. Even with all six of us, there's still a tremendous burden."

So we stood there for a while, thinking to ourselves. Arguing with our very minds, trying to find a solution that would work out for everybody. But then I realized that no matter what one does, there is always going to be somebody that opposes to it.

"By the time we reach Naruto it could be too late. If we get there and he is already too sick to turn the tables around and get better, we'd have signed his death warrant. I say we go in, and get what we came for." He started pacing again. Something he did when he was thinking. Said his body was like a machine, in that if it stood still it wasn't producing anything.

"It's not worth it." I was furious that Sai would even say such a thing, but he quickly corrected himself "Not in and of itself. Just to get some medicine would be a waste of bloody time. One person's life versus three. It would be a waste. Like Sasuke says, it's not worth it… However…" We listened while he spoke once again "If we were to get more than just the medicine, then maybe… We'd all benefit. You've told me countless times about how tiresome it is to make gauze out of old clothing." He pointed to Sasuke "And you-" he said as he turned to me "You said you've always wanted to learn more about the medical field. Maybe now you can. We could go searching for books on the matters. What do you say? Are you in?"

So once again, we stood with our hands in our pockets, contemplating on what to do.

A heavy silence coated the room, as it had done so many times before. We had somebody else's life in our hands now. The stakes were higher, but the reward was greater.

And so, while the snow started falling we came to a decision.

"We leave at dawn"

 **OoOoOoOoO**

 **WOHO! Finally I got around to writing the sequel! I hope a lot of you who read the first part of the series are still with me. If you're a new reader, then you're welcome to go check out the first part since this isn't very much a standalone read.**

 **I would also like to thank Akemi_Spangler once again for helping me beta the first part of the Zombieland series! You're a great beta! Good luck in the future! ^^**

 **Also I might be posting and rewriting the first part of the series on another page called archiveofourown as well, so go check that out. Pen name there is OoOMagnoliaOoO where I also write a lot of Ereri for the Attack on Titan fandom, so be sure to check that out if you're a Yaoi fan *Wink, wink***

 **I'm currently working on chapter two, but it might take a while since I have another story pending and is quite busy with work (Yes, some of us work during the summer too =( )**

 **I would also like to thank each and every one of you for your support during the first part, and also all of the nice reviews! I feel like I have developed a lot as a writer since then.**

 **Constructive criticism is also welcomed!**

 **Also, if you have any requests and other pointers be sure to leave those as well. And please make sure to PM me about any potential typos I may have made. I might have gotten better at English but it still isn't my first language.**

 **As always, R &R XD Until next time, JA NE! **

**P.S: I've re-written the entire first part of this story, so make sure and check it out ;) A lot has changed =) Until next time, JA NE! XD**


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to the jungle

_**Last time:**_

" _ **By the time we reach Naruto it could be too late. If we get there and he is already too sick to turn the tables around and get better, we'd have signed his death warrant. I say we go in, and get what we came for" He started pacing again. Something he did when he was thinking. Said his body was like a machine, in that if it stood still it wasn't producing anything.**_

" _ **It's not worth it" I was furious that Sai would even say such a thing, but he quickly corrected himself "Not in and of itself. Just to get some medicine would be a waste of bloody time. One person's life versus three. It would be a waste. Like Sasuke says, it's not worth it… However "We listened while he spoke once again "If we were to get more than just the medicine, then maybe… We'd all benefit. You've told me countless times about how tiresome it is to make gauze out of old clothing" He pointed to Sasuke "And you" he said as he turned to me "You said you've always wanted to learn more about the medical field. Maybe now you can. We could go searching for books on the matters. What do you say? Are you in?"**_

 _ **So once again, we stood with our hands in our pockets, contemplating on what to do.**_

 _ **A heavy silence coated the room, as it had done so many times before. We had somebody else's life in our hands now. The stakes were higher, but the reward was greater.**_

 _ **And so, while the snow started falling we came to a decision.**_

" _ **We leave at dawn"**_

 _And now…_

We had been walking for hours before we finally reached our destination. The tall building stood before us, towering us with its existence. Its white facade shining in the morning sun. Its huge windows no longer see through.

True to our words, we had set out at dawn, prepared to get what we had come for. The snow had fallen considerably during the night, so much so that it had been a challenge to open the door to the shed this morning. But with a little extra effort it had swung open.

Thanks to the cold weather, zombies actually preferred the outdoors temperature. It had dropped just below zero last night according to the thermometer we had installed last time we had visited the shed. Because of this it had been a challenge moving around without attracting too much attention.

Luckily we had all brought two or more weapons each to ensure that if the ammo were to run out, we had a backup. Around the hospital however, it was quiet. Too quiet. Eerily so. It was as if they were waiting to attack like that had done so many other times. But nothing came.

"Alright" Sai broke the silence "Do we know the general layabout? Where the infirmary is located? The labs? The OR:S?" I shook my head. I had no idea at all.

"I know where all of the public areas are though. And the ICU. It's on the second floor." They didn't bother asking how I knew. They just went along with it.

"Maybe we should wing it?" Joking at a time like this wasn't a particularly good idea from Sai's part. While I was busy reloading and checking my ammo, the others went their own separate ways to check out points of ingress and egress. There are usually boards up in the front lobby. Directions or whatnot.

" _We need to see her. She should be somewhere around here!" He grabbed my arm, playing the part of concerned husband all too well. But I could feel his hand gripping tighter around my limb. And it hurt too._

" _Sir I am really sorry but right now is not a good ti-" Clint slammed his closed fist straight into the counter. He was demanding to see her. I didn't care. I just kept staring into space._

 _My mother was in here, and it was all his fault._

"Saki! Saki! I think we might have found something!" Sasuke's voice snapped me out of my memories. Memories of a broken childhood. Of a monster.

My feet started moving before my brain could even register where I was heading. I just followed his voice to a small entrance off the side of the building.

"Do you think we'll be able to get through here? I bet there's an alarm or something. You know I don't do great with alarms." Sai tinkered a little bit with the circuit board before pulling out a screwdriver. He jammed it in between the wall and the pad and gave it a hard knock. It came off easier than he anticipated because in the moment he was clutching his hand.

"Fuck!" I didn't hear him curse all that often. He usually only did it when it was absolutely necessary. "That hurt a lot. So, now that the alarm is gone, how about we go inside?"

"Let's go. Saki, you're in the rear, I'll take the front. Sai you cover the sides. Clear?" Before long we found ourselves walking through the door into a deadzone. There was nothing there. It was so quiet, I could hear my own heart beating. Though to be fair I could have sworn the others heard it too.

The only thing that could be heard was the occasional shuffle of feet through the dirty and ruined floor. Pieces of the ceiling was scattered all over, and the plants had all but rotted in their pots. And while you could smell the rotten flesh all over, no walkers could be seen at all. It's as if they'd vanished into thin air.

I was stumped. Sasuke knew better. He was cautious. Making every move as if though someone was watching. It didn't take long to find an elevator, but since there was no power, it was useless. We had to take the stairs.

The stairs were made out of a shiny kind of stone. Well at least it used to be when I was here the last time. Now they were so broken and dirty I started to question whether or not it had all been my imagination.

We steadily climbed the stairs, careful not to miss a step, or God forbid; break it even further. Of course there is always that possibility that no matter how careful you are, you get thrown an unlucky card.

One moment my foot stood steady on the step, the next it didn't. And I fell straight through the flooring. Thanks to Sai's quick reflexes, he managed to grab ahold of me fast enough. I was thanking some God I didn't believe in right now.

"Help me pull her up." Sasuke grabbed my other arm, and with a gathered force I was standing again. After some brushing off, and checking for injuries we charged ahead.

"Are you sure you're not already pregnant? You're getting to be really heavy." I slapped him, quite hard I might add. It could surely be heard from a mile away.

"Are you serious? Keep it down! We don't wanna get caught in some shitstorm. They could be lurking around every fucking corner and you're bickering. I told both of you this is a really stupid idea." Of course, he was right. In hindsight this may have been one of the stupidest ideas I had had in a long time. But the payoff was worth taking the risk.

Along the corridors we saw the hospital rooms. They were all barred up. No wonder there were no zombies around. They were all locked in there, just rotting. I almost crawled out of my skin when one of those fuckers threw themselves at the window. Luckily I wasn't the only one.

I could feel that both of them wanted to turn around and get as far away from this place as possible. But they both pressed on. With the passing time, I realized that they were not staying for Naruto's sake. They were staying because of me. Because they trusted me.

" _Honey… are you alright? I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I just lost my temper, I promise I'll be better next time. I promise honey!"_

I couldn't stop thinking about it. About what had happened before all of this. If I had just stood up to him more often, would my mother be dead? Or would we have survived? Nowadays it felt as if I was simply surviving. I wasn't living at all. Of course there was Sasuke, and my friends. But something was missing.

Some key part of my life. Something more.

Two minutes. Two minutes we spent in silence, walking from open door to open door looking for something. But it was in the hall that we found salvation.

"Look. Crash Cart! They leave them unlocked for emergencies!" I ran ahead, but failed to see how this might have been some kind of trap. And sure enough, the moment I put my foot around the corner…

Someone stepped into my way.

With a gun pointed straight at me.

"Don't move… You two" The person gestured towards Sasuke and Sai. "Throw your weapons over there. NOW!" They did as told… Because they knew the consequences if they didn't.

Wild animal, is the only thing I could think of while looking into that person's eyes.

Well… I guess there is only one thing left to say.

Welcome to the jungle.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

 **Well, not the longest chapter I've written, but I did have a reason to end it so soon. Next chapter will hopefully be out next week or the week after that.**

 **As always, thanks for your feedback, it means a lot to me! Don't be shy, drop a favorite and leave a review :) It's always appreciated.**

 **Until next time, JA NE XD**


	3. Chapter 3: Let it go

_**Last time on Zombieland: The last lullaby:**_

" _ **Look. Crash Cart! They leave them unlocked for emergencies!" I ran ahead, but failed to see how this might have been some kind of trap. And sure enough, the moment I put my foot around the corner…**_

 _ **Someone stepped into my way.**_

 _ **With a gun pointed straight at me.**_

" _ **Don't move… You two" The person gestured towards Sasuke and Sai. "Throw your weapons over there. NOW!" They did as told… Because they knew the consequences if they didn't.**_

 _ **Wild animal, is the only thing I could think of while looking into that person's eyes.**_

 _ **Well… I guess there is only one thing left to say.**_

 _ **Welcome to the jungle.**_

 _ **And now:**_

Why is it that whenever there's a crisis, your brain just seems to freeze solid? Like there's nothing but solid ice coursing through your blood. You freeze and you can't seem to snap out of it. It's like you're overloading your own damn system. One minute you're aware of everything, and the next. There's nothing.

People used to say that when you're close to death, you see your life flashing by. It's not true. You don't see the failures. You see the happy times. First love, first kiss, first time. You see what could have been. The times that were great just seem to escape you. Slipping through your fingers.

But I think there's a single moment. Where your fight or flight response kicks in. Not for me. I'm not weighted to either one. I just stand there. Frozen in time. Not even the words coming out of the stranger's mouth registered properly in my brain. Words were coming out of their mouth… But it never reached my ears.

All I could hear, was a ringing noise. Not from a gun. Just my brain.

"Alright. I want you guys to stand over there for me. Apart from each other. And no funny business or I swear I will blow her fucking brains out!" A mask covering their face made it all but impossible to determine whether or not the person in front of me was male or female. From the voice though, I was pretty sure that they were female.

And she wasn't alone.

" _Karin, do you read? Over._ " I could sense the impending anger, just by looking at her body language. It was quite clear that something was up. " _We have a situation down in the lobby. A huge one! Over._ " She wasn't answering " _For fucks sake Karin, just answer me! Over._ " With a moment's hesitation she lost her concentration, and that made for a perfect opening.

I lifted my feet and kicked it out of her hand. Before she even realized that any of it had happened, I was the one holding her own gun against her. It was pointed squarely at her forehead.

"Don't do anything stupid now. As you can hear, we're not alone. We outnumber you ten to one. You sure you want to do this?" I wasn't sure I could ever pull the trigger again. Not like I had done on Itachi.

" _Call this retribution!"_

I was lost in my memories more often than not nowadays. Remembering stuff I really didn't want to. One memory that I never again wanted to relive was the death that had led to us being here. Kakashi had crossed my mind several times before. But never had I wanted to remember his death.

And if I was in full control, I never would.

"No." I finally mustered up the courage and the energy to answer her question "No, I really don't. I don't want to shoot you. But if you hurt me or my friends, you bet your ass I would kill you in a heartbeat." My voice sounded sure. My facial expression did not. Her grin looked sinister.

"I'm not sure you would. Maybe you would shoot me… But you wouldn't kill me. Something tells me you've done it before. Dirty? Yes… But there's also a rush, isn't there?" Bile was surely rising in my throat. Someone like her probably got off on death. Maybe it made her all hot and tingly.

"You disgust me." She shrugged her shoulders.

"You're not the first to say that. But just remember that rush. Nothing sexual. Just the adrenaline." Sasuke approached slowly, taking cautious steps, worrying about any potential concealed weapons. But that was the least of our worries.

"It's gotten too quiet. That radio of yours hasn't been making a sound." Now that we were extra cautious I could see Sasuke listening real close. Before he turned to the end of the corridor.

"I would advise you, that we have a gun pointed straight to your friends head. Proceed real fucking cautiously. You don't want to get her brains blown out, do you?" In the next second there was a voice speaking up.

"Alright, we're coming out. Don't shoot!" But Sasuke still kept his gun pointed at the edge of the corner. Waiting for something to happen.

"Not happening. You're not coming out from your hiding spot with guns pointed at me. I make the rules here. Drop them and kick them towards the other corridor." Nothing could be heard for a second.

"Look, you and I both know that we can't do that. I'm not going up against you defenseless, Sasuke. Only a fool would do that" And something inside of him seemed to relax. Almost as if…

"Suigetsu? You're…"

A man, no older than thirty, stepped out. His hair was an odd mix between light blue and white, reaching just above his shoulders. His teeth looked sharpened… By what instrument or why I had no idea. It looked creepy though. His muscles could be seen through the thin jacket he bore. It hugged him so closely, that one flex and… Pop!

"It's been awhile, brother. I wish I could say you haven't changed… But." Yeah. Sasuke had changed. Just over the course of the four, almost five, years I had known him, he had changed a lot. I can only imagine how much he had changed before I even met him.

"Yeah." Sasuke said with sadness dripping from his voice. They both knew it "You haven't." Both men felt comfortable enough to lower their weapons. No threat did the other pose. Which was great, but that didn't leave Karin in any less danger. I was still kind of deciding what to do. Sasuke seemed to know them. But he hadn't said a word when he heard her name. Maybe they didn't know one another… Or maybe… No. She's not his type. Failed romance, maybe? To be honest, I wasn't sure what his type was. I knew that he loved me, but not really what physical aspect he was most drawn to. Maybe it wasn't the physical.

"Hey, you. Lower the gun." I wasn't listening.

"Saki, lower it" Sasuke's voice brought me out of an almost trance like state. I lowered it, but I wasn't ready to trust her enough to hand it over yet. So I held onto it.

"Give it back, bitch! I'm not going to warn you again." She removed her mask. Two ember eyes stared back into my emerald ones. Almost like she was trying to stare me down. It wasn't working. I stood my ground. Like I always do.

"Sakura, give her gun back. They're friendly." She sported a big ass smirk. And she kept flipping that red hair of hers. That ugly red hair, put neatly into a ponytail. If I hadn't gotten off to a bad start with her, I'm sure I would have found it quite pretty. Before I could hand the gun over, Sasuke grabbed it.

"Yeah, maybe that one over there is friendly, but this bitch sure as hell isn't. I don't trust her." When he was handing her gun back to her, I could see her eyes lingering on him, pining for him. And then the bitch let her hand hold on a little bit too long on his. I saw red. And it sure as hell wasn't her hair. But I held back, and bit the inside of my cheek. I wasn't going to fight her. Sasuke knew whom he belonged to.

"Thank you, Sasuke was it?" She was flirting with my man. But as much as I hated her in this moment, I couldn't let myself loose. Not again. Not after what happened at Shadow Island. Where I had punched the everloving shit out of Tenten.

Punching her in the face, almost killing her. And being dragged off with some man to get my hand stitched up.

" _Don't trust Sasuke. No matter what. He's dangerous!"_

I remember used to cry a lot. It was just who I was. After that whole incident I just stopped. I hadn't shed a tear in a long time.

Something was bugging the hell out of me though.

They were still missing. Neji, Tenten… and Gaara. After Shadow Island we tried going back to look for them for… retribution I suppose you could call it. But it was as if they'd vanished into thin air.

There was a sliver of hope when we'd found one of Tenten's old notebooks. An old entry with the title failsafe…

 _Tea Party._

"Yeah… It is. And you must be Karin." Sasuke's voice was strained. Almost uncomfortable. She gave a shy laugh, further making the point that she was flirting. She extended her hand. And Sasuke took it in his own.

The handshake lasted too long. But that was the nice part about becoming an adult. You no longer jump to the same conclusions you did in your younger days. Four years ago I would have gotten paranoid and cried. I was still paranoid as hell, but no way was I going to cry. They broke off their contact, but I could see Karin lingering a little bit too long.

"Suigetsu, update, stat." Because of Sasuke's military background he tended to bring a lot of technical talk with him. Sometimes it all sounded like jibberish. The man was checking his ammo.

"Well… Honestly… We're fucked" I couldn't tear my gaze away from Sasuke. I felt betrayed still not letting go of my anger and resentment. Small thing to get upset over? I know. But to me it was a huge deal.

"How so?" Karin brushed past and bumping into me, without even turning around to apologize. Now the bitch was in for it.

But like always. I held my tongue.

"Well, first we have the festering pile of moldering corpses in the basement. By my calculations, we don't have nearly as much bullets to even pick off a small portion of the horde. Then there's the fact that we have not found one key card that gives us access to that part of the hospital. Not even the damn doctors have passes that goes into the reactor room. We have been looking at every damn set of key cards in this place. We need some circuitry from one of the automated generator starter thingys. So… Like I said… Fucked."

"That's because you're looking in the wrong place" all eyes on me. And complete deafening silence "You do know who has keys to there right?" The red haired bitch snorted.

"Yeah, doctors, administrations officer, head of surgery-"

"Janitors." And over each of their heads, an imaginary light bulb switched on "they have to clean, and fix and you know… Do what janitors do and all that shit. Isn't it logical to assume that they would have a key? You said it was a card?" Suigetsu nodded "then it will be attached to his breast pocket… Probably"

"That makes sense. Suigetsu!" Karin got his attention "did we pass any janitors on our way here?" The man scratched the back of his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"Can't say we did. We made sure to avoid as many walkers as possible. I mean, we must have seen them somewhere. Breakroom? Cafeteria, that's usually where they hang out right?" I shook my head.

"No, as walkers they would have moved to get closer to the horde. They don't seem to exhibit any kind of human trait when it comes to patterns. We'll just have to scope the place out one room at a time. Chances are that the janitor has wandered off." Karin snorted at me again and I could see the others agreeing with what I was saying, but gave off an air of hopelessness.

"Look, this place is how big again? I'm not sure that scoping this place out is gonna do it for us. Clearing this place room by room is going to take a lot of manpower and a lot of bullets. That is going to take a long ass time. I think it's better if we just abort the mission. Come back another time with more people." The others agreed with Suigetsu. And somehow I knew that he was right. It didn't take a genius to realize that what he was saying was true.

But we weren't walking out of here until we got what we came for. I stepped over to the crash cart and opened it. No antibiotics, but a lot of epinephrine and some other various drugs that were fast acting in case of emergency. I grabbed it all.

"Sasuke?" He hm:ed and turned to me "We need to get downstairs and look for antibiotics. There should be some in the hospital pharmacy. Let's go." Sai seemed hesitant at first, but soon followed. As we were approaching the staircase Karin spoke up.

"Hey! You'll have better luck finding it up here. We've already raided the pharmacy a couple of weeks ago. We'll stick to your previous plan, Pinky. Taking it room by room. I'll go with Sasuke, you a-" I cut her off mid sentence.

"Not happening, redhead. Sasuke will go with Suigetsu, I'll go with Sai and you and… That tall guy over there will team up. That way, we're all with people we know and trust. Everybody agreeing to that?" Before Karin could protest the rest had already agreed. "We'll meet up here in ten minutes, if there's any trouble, you holler and we'll come running. Then… we get the hell out of here."

We walked our separate ways.

After some time Sai turned to me.

"Are you okay? I know what I said back in the shed. About Naruto. I was just saying what you both were afraid to bring up. There is a strong possibility that he might not still be alive. I don't want it to be true. I want him to still be living, not just because this would have been in vain, but because I've grown to care for him. Even if he's a pain in the ass sometimes. But the way he was looking when we left… It wasn't looking good, Saki." I didn't want to see it. I knew that he was telling the truth. I knew that there was a better than average chance that when we came back he would be dead. But we couldn't give up hope. We can save him.

I just wish… No, I can't think about him right now.

I wasn't thinking about Naruto. Not only. Memories of a man with black eyes and gray hair. A man that had experienced more pain in a short amount of time than most people go through in a lifetime. His last words-

"Saki, we've got company" Ahead were two walkers, withered away and rotting to the bone. Instead of taking the sneak approached I walked right up to them and put a tire iron straight into its brain. Sai took care of the other one.

"So that was fun." I chuckled softly. Not because it was actually funny, more because he was so damn random and bizarre. Something else caught us off. Someone screaming.

"Oh my god, that is so fucking disgusting. Get this thing off me!" We ran off in the general direction of the noise. Did they not realize this place was filled with the walking dead. When we reached them Karin had already gotten up and what she was covered in made my stomach turn.

"This. Will. _Never._ Wash. OUT! This was my favorite shirt! Urgh!" I walked up to her and slapped her. Straight across her stupid little face.

"Are you retarded? Were you dropped on your head as a child!?" I hissed in a hushed voice. She was still getting over the initial shock of me having struck her "Were in a hospital full of walkers and you complain about a fucking shirt? Admittedly this is fucking disgusting, but you know what would be even more disgusting? You turning into fucking walker chum. So keep your God damned voice down or I'm going to reach down you throat and pull out your damn vocal cords. Understood!?" Before she could answer we heard fast approaching footsteps.

"What the hell happened?" Suigetsu and Sasuke had gotten back. And they had been in luck. In Sasuke's hand was a full bottle of painkillers and in Suigetsu's was what looked like antibiotics.

"One of these fuckers fell on me. Ruined my favorite shirt. And then this bitch slapped me! Can you believe it." She walked over to Sasuke "You really want somebody with you that slaps people just like that? I would never do something like-"

"Right now I agree with her. I heard that scream all the way over to the other end of the floor. And if we heard it there's a bigger than average chance that the zombies all over did as well. It's not safe around here anymore. We have to get going. Move out. NOW!" We ran… We didn't even bother looking around for anything else. Sasuke threw the bottle to me and I quickly stuffed it into my backpack. We reached the ground floor faster than I thought we would. Once we were downstairs we tried opening the front entrance… But surprise surprise. It was locked up tight.

"What the fuck?" Sasuke cursed "How the hell did you guys get in?" Suigetsu gave no explanation, just kept running over to where the ER was. Quickly clearing the floor was easy. The resistance was not. We fought our way through a bunch of walkers, but not without complications.

Halfway through my fourth walker, I felt a sharp sting in my right arm. When I turned around I saw one of them having a field day trying to chew all the way through. I had been bitten enough to not panic anymore. So I just fought it off quickly and kept running.

In all the chaos we failed to see the approaching horde. But we didn't care about that. We just kept running.

Breaking through the ER doors was like breaking the surface of water. Finally getting to take a deep breath. Outside there stood a truck, still running, ready to pick the others up. Me, Sasuke and Sai were unsure of what to do next, but Suigetsu's insisting that we get on erased my doubts.

"Come on. Get on!" He screamed. The truck was big, a military truck. Old one at that. The rest of them had already gotten on. When I was about to climb on I felt another one bite my ankle.

"Fucker, get off!" Sasuke shot it. And pulled me on board.

"Fucking drive!" The driver didn't hesitate. He stepped on the gas.

Once we'd made some distance from the hospital did Karin acknowledge the elephant in the room.

"Fuck… You're bit. Kill her now!" In all of the hell of guns quickly getting unholstered I couldn't help but to laugh. A crazy laugh. Nothing was funny… Not really. Just the irony of things finally getting to me.

I was going to make it. But they didn't know that.

So how did I make it without getting shot? Well that's a story for another time. For now…

Just…

Let it go.

 **OoOoOoOoO**

 **Wohoooo! Another chapter finally done. I kind of broke the deadline, but hey. At least I'm not going to abandon the story. I have as usual, been busy with work. Yes, some people still have to work through the summer. Yes… It sort of sucks.**

 **Next chapter will hopefully be posted before the end of the month. For now I suppose you should get caught up on the first part of the story. I'm of course talking about the original Zomebieland I posted a couple of years ago.**

 **Anyway so long my little zombies ;)**

 **Until next time, JA NE XD**


	4. Chapter 4: Awake and Alive

_**Last time on Zombieland: Shadow of Liberty**_

" _ **Come on. Get on!" He screamed. The truck was big, a military truck. Old one at that. The rest of them had already gotten on. When I was about to climb on I felt another one bite my ankle.**_

" _ **Fucker, get off!" Sasuke shot it. And pulled me on board.**_

" _ **Fucking drive!" The driver didn't hesitate. He stepped on the gas.**_

 _ **Once we'd made some distance from the hospital did Karin acknowledge the elephant in the room.**_

" _ **Fuck… You're bit. Kill her now!" In all of the hell of guns quickly getting unholstered I couldn't help but to laugh. A crazy laugh. Nothing was funny… Not really. Just the irony of things finally getting to me.**_

 _ **I was going to make it. But they didn't know that.**_

 _ **So how did I make it without getting shot? Well that's a story for another time. For now…**_

 _ **Just…**_

 _ **Let it go.**_

 _And now;_

Nothing was funny… not really. The longer I thought about it, the less it made sense. Why the hell was I laughing? Some crazy bitch was holding her gun to my head, and my mind just said "fuck it - it's time to bring on the hysteria.".

There was no irony to it all… it was just an endless string of thready heartbeats that banged into my eardrums. There was only one simple explanation.

I was in shock. Not that it was that much of a surprise, really. I mean, sure; I'd been through this enough times now to realize that I wasn't going to croak out… but then there was the issue of trying to convince the others of that.

Sasuke and Sai knew, yes… but not the rest.

The red-haired woman still held her firearm to my forehead. I tried forcing my brain to stop sending signals for me to laugh hysterically - but alas I failed. So between the laughter I only managed to bark out a few breathy words.

"Just - put that - shit down. I - ain't gonna - die." I was still laughing, much to Sasuke's dismay; who grabbed the weapon out of Karin's hands. He held it firmly in his hands, unable to let go of it for even a second.

"What the fuck do you mean, you're not gonna die? Everyone who's bit dies! Everybody knows that!" She screamed, another type of hysteria flushing through her veins. I shook my head, wiped away a few tears and rolled up my sleeve.

My bites were clear as day. "No…" I stopped laughing, but never lost my smile. "No, I'm really not. This has happened more times than I can count. I'm immune." I swore they could catch flies with their open mouths. Though I suppose it was fairly rare as far as I was able to deduce. I'd only ever met one other person with the same ability - and he was long gone. Vanished into thin air.

"What the fuck?" Karin screamed, holding back amazement. "What the actual fuck? How is that even possible?" I shrugged, noticing the pain; now that the adrenaline rush was slowly wearing off.

"I haven't got a clue how it works. It just does. No matter how many times I'm bit, I don't turn." Suigetsu grabbed my arm, pulling it closer for inspection.

"Incredible. I can't believe it." He spoke, trying to contain his excitement. Sasuke eyed him closely.

"Have you ever heard of such a thing?" My boyfriend eventually asked curiously. Suigetsu shook his head, twisting my arm gently to the sides to look for more teeth marks. When he didn't find any, he let me go.

"No, can't say that I have. It's amazing though…" I cringed; feeling the full extent of my injuries. The area surrounding my ankle was burning - as was the new bite on my arm. A nice couple of editions to my extensive and growing collection. I chuckled through the onslaught of ache.

"Not so amazing from this side, though." I spoke, hissing through my teeth in discomfort rather than out of anger. The truck came to an abrupt halt, stopping by the side of the road. From the small window separating were we were sitting and the driver - a head became visible.

"Sorry, but we have a huge problem. Namely… a huge horde heading this way." He looked quite old; long, white hair flowing down his back and spiked in a weird manner. The man almost reminded me of a Samoyed dog. On his forehead he wore a headband made out of metal; engraved with a strange symbol. I shook my head, finding his appearance absurd.

"Just run through them!" Karin yelled. "We did not take _Old Betsy_ for nothing!" The man spun around, focusing on the road once again. Karin turned back to the rest of us; staring daggers into my soul. I glared back, not intending to back down.

Going back to rule number 16 - show no weakness.

Sasuke cleared his throat. "Old Betsy?" He asked.

Suigetsu grinned. "The truck. We call her "Old Betsy". Been along since before this whole thing started. Can mow through hordes without any difficulty whatsoever." He replied.

I surveyed the tight quarters again, focusing on the man in the far left corner. The tall, orange-haired man, looked as if though he was in pain.

His eyes were glaring a strange shade of either deep ember - or actual red. I couldn't determine which. All I knew was that he looked constipated as fuck; leaning back against the walls of the truck, breathing hitched in his throat.

He didn't speak - just listened.

I actually preferred it to be that way. The less people who spoke in this moment; the better. The road suddenly became filled with obstacles which lead to more and more bumps disrupting the peace. I grew more distressed; pain in my wounds taking over my most logical thoughts. I grabbed Sasuke's hand, bracing for impact.

He put it against his dry lips, kissing it with a featherlike touch; calming me down if even just for a second. The tall man - who had previously been as quiet as a church mouse - suddenly spoke up.

"So you're immune?" I nodded.

"Yeah. I am. What of it?" He shrugged, but smiled warmly. I grew weary around him for some unbeknownst reason.

"Nothing really. Just wondering how it works." It was my turn to shrug.

"Like I said, I don't know. All I really know is that I'm going to pass out during the hour. After that; the waiting begins." Suigetsu peeked up, confused.

"Waiting?"

"It takes a few days for this to pass. It's like with a common cold. You need a few days to recuperate. I'll be out for an unspecified amount of time. When I come to again, everything will be back to normal. I just have to sweat it out; so to speak." We sat in the silence for a long time - feeling the walkers being ground into pancakes in the road, underneath our feet.

I tried counting the bumps in order to shift my focus from the inevitable, but ended up losing my concentration halfway in when Karin rose from her seat. She sat down next to Sasuke; cuddling up real close.

"So… you seeing anyone, handsome?" She asked sweetly, flirting with him in an unbashful manner. I couldn't fault her for asking, but I grew enraged when she wrapped her arm around his. Either this bitch was blind - and had not seen the way Sasuke and I looked at each other - or she was completely out of her mind.

Either way; the end result was the same.

I grabbed her arm, tossing it to the side. "Back off, Red. He's taken." I said, voice dripping with venom. She frowned, pursing her lips in disappointment.

"What a shame." Karin turned to Sasuke again. "If you ever decide that Pinky over there isn't enough for you; and you want a real woman - I'll be right here." Before I got the chance to speak up and yell at the red-haired dumbass - Sasuke spoke up, once again wriggling out of her gasp.

"That won't be necessary." He curtly, but unmistakably, turned her down. Karin frowned again, switching her position and sitting down next to Suigetsu instead. My mind was getting fuzzy around the edges, sleep tugging at the corners of my mind. Darkness seemed so much more inviting than the light.

So there we were, sitting in a truck full of strangers, heading into the future that looked suspiciously much like the end.

I awoke some time later, and to my great surprise, in a bed. I wasn't sure where I was or where the others might be… all I knew was that everything was warm and cozy. My head still hurt slightly, as it always did after a bite, but apart from that - everything seemed fine.

I raised myself up halfway into a seated position, trying to take in my surroundings. There was an unmistakable light coming from a window, shining into my sensitive eyes. They felt as if though they were about to pop out of my skull at this point.

Something somewhat stranger was the cleanliness of the quarters. Not only the clean floors and fresh bed linens, but also the sparkling of the windows and the mirror in the corner. This place looked pristine, as if the apocalypse had never happened.

I shook my head, ridding myself of such a ridiculous thought. It most certainly had, and _if_ this had just been a dream, I would have woken up in my own bed; in my own house. I treaded across the cold hardwood floor, looking out the window.

And the worst part of waking up was this;

Realizing that we'd taken another step into the past… a dark step back.

In that moment, the door opened; a woman with long blonde hair and brown eyes stepping over the threshold.

With one of my feet in reality and the other in the deep, dark corners of my mind - I stood… watching her with great confusion.

"Ah, you're awake. My name is Tsunade… welcome to Konoha, Miss Haruno."

 **Fuck yeah! They're back in Konoha! XD I've been planning this for years and now I finally got the opportunity to write it ;) I'm sorry for putting the story on an unofficial hiatus for a long time [I've had a writer's block like you wouldn't believe.]. I know that this chapter was slightly shorter than the others, but it was just as important. Next one should be from Sasuke's pov, ya'll; so look forward to that ;) Until next time, JA NE! XD**


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